Oscar Piastri has fumed at Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz after a crash in the first corner ended his Belgian Grand Prix prematurely.
Key points:
- Oscar Piastri went into the wall on the opening lap
- Max Verstappen won the Belgian Grand Prix after starting sixth
- Verstappen leads his teammate in the drivers’ championship by 125 points
The Australian, coming off a second-place finish in Saturday’s sprint race, had his race ended on the opening lap.
Piastri was on the inside of Sainz heading into the opening corner — a right-hand turn hairpin — with the Ferrari driver cutting across the Australian’s front-wing and pushing him into the barrier.
The damage was enough for Piastri to be forced to pull the car over to the side of the track, unable to get back to the pitlane.
Piastri, who finished fourth and fifth in his last two outings for McLaren, was audibly annoyed with Sainz cutting him off and sending him into the wall.
“I don’t know what he was doing,” he said over his radio.
“I was there and he just turned in like I didn’t exist.”
Sainz suffered damage to his sidepod which severely compromised his race, ultimately retiring halfway through.
Verstappen makes it lucky 13 for Red Bull with victory
Red Bull’s F1 record for most consecutive victories has extended to 13, as Max Verstappen dominated in Belgium.
Starting sixth on the grid after taking a five-place penalty for using a fifth gearbox this season, Verstappen beat his teammate Sergio Perez by more than 20 seconds, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc rounding out the podium.
The win was Verstappen’s third consecutive win in Belgium, and eighth in a row overall.
Perez led after the opening lap, passing Charles Leclerc who was promoted to pole position after Verstappen’s grid penalty.
Perez held the lead to the first pitstop phase, with his teammate on his tail after gliding up the grid.
Perez could only hold off his teammate until lap 17 of 44, when Verstappen passed him on the straight and then drove clear.
“I knew we had a good car, it was just about surviving turn 1, it all got very tight and I just stayed out of that,” Verstappen said after his victory.
“This track is super hard on the tyres, so you don’t want to do unnecessary things.”
The Dutchman leads his teammate in the drivers’ championship by 125 points.
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